Much to Chris' utter dismay, Sebastian's words were continuously ringing in his ears all through the entire drive to Holly's apartment building, with the soft hum of the music in the background being his only companion.

"Are you sure she isn't falling out of love?"

She couldn't be. She just told him she loved him five days ago when they spoke over the phone. . . for about two minutes. Still, she couldn't possibly be falling out of love with him.

Ridding his mind off of it, Chris continued with the drive down to her apartment. He reached her place in less than twenty-five minutes with the bouquet of flowers in hand and his heart palpitating like crazy.

Brushing his hair back a little, he sucked in a deep breath, squared his shoulders and pushed through the double doors of Holly's apartment building.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Evans! Here to see Ms. Alder? She just got back about two hours ago," Mr. Davies, the receptionist, greeted with a smile on his face.

"Two hours ago?" Chris asked with confusion etched between his brows.

He was sure that Holly mentioned she would only be landing in about an hour from now. Perhaps he misheard her. Nodding slightly to himself, Chris thanked Mr. Davies and proceeded to the elevator that would take him up to the 8th floor.

. . . . . .

"Jesus Christ," Piper sighed once more as she pressed the palm of her hands to her eyes.

The ruckus was still ongoing and has been ongoing for about forty-five minutes now. Another moan came from the apartment unit next door and Piper wondered if the walls were really paper-thin or that these two were just being absurdly loud.

Piper blew out yet another exasperated sigh before deciding immediately that she should leave the house and just perch in a quaint little cafe or something for the next two hours or so and leave them be.

Grabbing her bag from the room in a hurried manner, Piper swiped her keys off of the counter and marched towards the door. Turning to her left once she was stood outside, she vaguely noticed a man with a baseball cap walking down the hallway with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Piper smiled at the sentimental gesture and returned to locking her door.

Chris, who was nearing her, spared a glance at her before moving to ring the doorbell but stopped almost immediately when he heard what could be assumed a sensual moan from inside the apartment.

He stilled, his finger hovering over the doorbell, as he prayed his ears were playing a trick on him. He listened for a little while longer and was almost convinced that his ears were playing tricks but then a second moan came and he instantly recognized the voice.

Holly's voice.

Chris' eyes grew wide and without a second thought, he reached for the door knob and twisted it open with ease but oh, how he wished he'd gotten caught in traffic or that Holly had lied about being back home today because the sight that was right before him sickened him to no end.

"What the fuck?!" Chris exclaimed, the bouquet of flowers now on the floor as his eyes darted from his girlfriend to the unknown man who had his arms around her. "Holly?! What the fuck—Jesus Christ, what the fuck is going on? Who the fuck is this?!"

Piper heard the man with the baseball cap exclaim and was a little tempted to casually walk by to see what this whole commotion was about—before scurrying off, of course—but when she heard another man's voice sound from the now open apartment unit, she thought her mind and ears were playing tricks on her.

Just as she was about to pass the apartment unit, out came a man, stark naked, with only a pillow in his hands to hide his package. He noticed there was someone behind him and dared himself to look but regret washed all over him as soon as he locked eyes with the petite Swedish woman.

"Vince?!" Piper exclaimed, her eyes wide as saucers as she inadvertently took a step back the second he inched a little closer to her.

"Babe, I—I can explain," Vince started out slowly, gulping. "Th—this isn't what it looks like—"

Before he could even stop her, Piper was already shoving past his outstretched hand and marching into the apartment that was next to hers. She gasped aloud, registering the fact that there was an equally naked woman who was trying her best to cover herself with a throw blanket as she tried to weasel her way out of this mess.

Piper's eyes snapped back at Vince, who was still standing outside the apartment, pillow in hand, as he looked away from her sheepishly.

"Hey, lady! I think you're in the wrong fucking apartment!" the other woman in the room yelled cockily, her hands now on her hips.

Piper's eyes swept over to that godforsaken woman before they settled on the guy who was diagonally across from her, realization dawning upon her.

"You cheated on Captain America with my fucking boyfriend?" Piper exclaimed in disbelief, her eyes now as wide as saucers.

Chris threw her a brief glance before doing a double take, recalling her to be the girl that lived literally next door. "That prick outside is your boyfriend?"

"Ex, now," Piper said through gritted teeth, throwing a dirty look at Vince. "And this bloody woman is your girlfriend?"

"Unfortunately, she was," he said, sending daggers at Holly who was gripping on to the throw blanket tightly. Though, Chris looked more hurt than angry.

"Can we maybe—you know, settle this like a couple of mature adults?" Vince piped up from behind and both Piper and Chris threw a dirty look at him.

"Mature adults?" Piper spat with heavy venom laced in her voice. "Mature adults? You've got to be fucking kidding me, you lying, cheating piece of shit!"

"Mature adults," Chris chuckled nonchalantly before his eyes settled on Holly. "If you two really were adults, this wouldn't have happened in the first place."

"She came on to me!" Vince exclaimed the same time Holly yelled, "He came on to me!"

Piper's eyes darted between Holly and Vince before they settled on Chris. She pursed her lips and shook her head as a single tear slid down her cheek. "I thought you loved me," she muttered, her voice feeble and broken. "I really thought you did."

Chris threw her a sympathetic look, noticing just how utterly crushed she was.

Piper hesitated a little before adding, "My brother was right. Luke was right. You couldn't even remember when our anniversary was and I even defended you," she confessed through angry tears, the exasperation in her voice was evident. "I even told Luke that that was scripted. All of it. But he was right all along."

"Piper—"

Vince moved towards her but halted in his steps when Chris stepped in front of Piper and pushed her behind him. "That's as far as you get, cheater."

Holly furrowed her eyebrows a little at Chris' gesture and dared herself to inch a little closer to him but Piper noticed this and was quick to turn around, shooting her a disapproving look. Holly visibly shrank as her eyes darted from Piper to Chris.

They looked like two best friends who have known each other for what seemed like forever when in actuality, they'd only just met and already were they being incredibly protective of one another.

"How long?" Piper dared herself to ask, her voice a little shakier than she liked.

Vince casted a brief glance at Holly, though it didn't go unnoticed by Chris. Holly decided to respond to Piper's question before Vince could say anything. "Three months."

"She's lying," Chris said in a flash, his eyes now trained on Holly.

Vince sighed as soon as Piper turned to look at him, the look she had in her eyes was something he'd never seen before and he felt the colour drain from his face as he answered her truthfully. "Seven months."

"Seven months," Chris scoffed, being the first one to break the uncomfortable silence that had draped over the four of them as soon as Vince came through with his confession. "So, Sebastian was right. You did fall out of love with me," he croaked, tears blurring his vision. "And instead of telling me to my face that we should just breakup and see other people, you decided to cling on to me and sneak behind my back with this asshole who even cheated on his own girlfriend."

"Chris—" Holly began, only to be interrupted by Chris.

"I don't wanna hear it," Chris said in a clipped voice, putting his hand up to silence her. "You fell out of love with me and proceeded to use me and I just—I can't believe it. Did I do something wrong? Was I not good enough?"

"Chris. . . God, how do I say this? We just weren't the right fit, okay? I needed more excitement in my life and you just," Holly paused for a moment, "I didn't feel that with you."

Hurt flashed in Chris' eyes as pain washed all over him like a bucket full of pins and needles, each of it finding its way to prick him once, twice, thrice. "That still doesn't give grounds to the fact that you kept me around to use me," Chris bit back, though he sounded more betrayed than mad.

By this point, Piper was livid and betrayed and disappointed and just downright crestfallen. She spared a quick glance at Vince, her eyes then darting over to Holly before averting them to Chris. He looked completely heartbroken and judging by the look on his face, he seemed to be regretting something, much like she was.

They both hadn't heeded their friends' and family's advices and now here they were, getting pricked and scalded over and over again until the scars that they now bore looked like they were mocking them for being so foolish—so foolishly in love.

"Get out," Piper said, her voice shaky yet slightly firm. "I never want to see you again. So, you can pack your shit and get out," she punctuated the last two words, her eyes trained on the wall behind Vince.

"Piper, please," he implored. He looked like he'd just been beaten to a pulp. "We can work this out. I love you too much. Just. . . just give me a chance—another shot and I swear, I promise I'll make it up to you."

"I don't give cheaters like you a second chance, Vince. If you really loved me, you wouldn't have done what you did," she spat back.

Vince's face darkened considerably, knowing that any explanation he threw at her would all be in vain. The look she was giving him felt like it was burning holes right through his very soul and a part of him felt extremely guilty.

"Leave," Piper gritted with tears in her eyes.

As if on cue, Chris turned around to shoot Holly a look, daring her to say something smart. Holly visibly shrank for the second time that afternoon as she avoided his gaze, tugging at the throw blanket that was wrapped around her.

Vince spared one last glance at Piper before he nodded to himself, biting the inside of his cheek as he gathered his clothes in hand and left Holly's apartment without another word. Piper released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding in and was about to leave when she remembered that Chris was still standing right next to her.

There was no way she was going to leave him alone, especially not in a time like this.

Chris had his eyes set on his shoes as he tugged on his bottom lip harshly. Piper wasn't sure if she should place her hand on his shoulder to offer him some support, afraid that it might only upset him more than he already was or come off the wrong way. She decided it was probably best for her to stand by him and patiently wait for him to come around and say something.

Holly was looking away when Chris finally mustered enough strength to tell her what was on his mind. "I'd pack the clothes I've left here but that prick has probably already worn my clothes, so you can just get rid of them. I don't want something that's been tainted over and over again," Chris said, sparing a glance at the couch before looking away in disgust. "I hope you're happy now."

Without so much as a last glance, Chris turned on his heel and looked to Piper before lightly gesturing towards the door. Piper gave him a small nod and took careful steps towards the front door, her feet feeling a little wobbly from the mess. Chris followed swiftly after her and slammed the door shut, causing Holly to jump at the sound.

Piper sucked in a deep breath as soon as she was out in the hallway. She was contemplating on going over to Luke's right away, not wanting to be around here a second longer but she knew she'd have to pack a few things first.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Chris asked with heavy concern laced in his voice, diverting Piper's attention to him.

Piper's eyes softened at the sight of him—he looked like he hadn't slept in a week. "We'll be okay. . . in due time. We'll be okay."

Chris' mouth curved into a small, sad smile, his bright blue eyes looking duller than ever and the colour in his face completely drained. "So, you're Piper."

"Yeah." The petite woman nodded slowly.

"This was, uh, not the kind of introduction I was expecting the both of us to have," Chris said, looking down at his feet as he tugged his lip between his teeth.

"Likewise."

---
a/n; guess who's back again!!! i'm the absolute worst when it comes to updating my books.

if you're still reading this, thank you. i love you. i hope you're all well. ❤

the next chapter should be up in a couple of days and we'll be seeing more of chris & piper again pretty soon!